You won't be able to salvage the brown sugar tonight, but you don't have to toss it. I dampen a paper towel and loosely wrap it in foil. Put it into a sealed container with the brown sugar, and let the dampness of the paper towel re-humidify the brown sugar...it'll take a day or two.

I recently convinced my sister to use the microwave method instead of running out to the store (she didn't believe me until I showed her the destructions on the side of the box and even then I had to actually soften the sugar in the micro before she was convinced!) And, I just put the whole box of brick-hard brown sugar into the mirco without wet/dampened paper towel and it worked just fine.

When brown sugar hardens, it loses its natural moisture. Here are some suggestions to restore the moisture and soften the sugar:

* If you need to use hard brown sugar immediately, remove it from the package and heat it in a 250-degree oven. Watch it carefully. As soon as it’s soft, measure the amount you need right away because it will again harden as it cools. Please use caution. Oven heated sugar is very hot!

* To soften brown sugar in a microwave, place it in a microwave-safe container, cover loosely with a wet (but not dripping) white paper towel, set the microwave on high, and check the sugar every 30 seconds. Again, microwave-softened sugar hardens as it cools so microwave only the amount of sugar you need. And it’s very hot. Please use caution.

* Time permitting, place the hardened brown sugar in a rustproof container with a dampened – not dripping wet – white paper towel or napkin placed over a small piece of plastic wrap or foil on top of the sugar. Cover tightly. Remove the paper towel after the sugar absorbs the moisture and softens (about two days) and tightly reseal the container.

For the future, if you keep your brown sugar in the refrigerator you won't have a drying problem. Well, unless you use the boxed kind, then you need to take it out of the box and put it in a zip lock bag, then put it in the refrigerator.

Probably not a problem for a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but in some recipes you need to replace the lost moisture when your brown sugar has dried out.